The minute I saw these pretty pantry labels I thought of Mise over at Pretty  Far West and her Bonne Maman jars (although I don’t think the labels include paints!)

It is very fashionable at the moment to display your foodstuffs in glass jars like the ones featured in these photos and what could be a nicer way of labelling each storage jar than with these very pretty removable and reusable stickers by Love Mae.

If you are itching to redesign your pantry or larder, you can these these new jar label stickers right here.

Do you remember some time ago I said I would post some little snippet of a makeover from my home every Monday and then things went crazy and I just didn’t get a chance to get anything done!

I had planned to do the utility and kitchen by last Friday when visitors called and although I got the ceiling and walls painted in the utility, I realised I wouldn’t have time to get both done if I didn’t hurl everything from the kitchen into the utility and get started on it!

There are still pictures to be hung, cupboards to be filled etc but the walls and ceiling are painted – (the walls are Warm Grey by Designers Guild and the ceiling is painted with Pointing by Farrow & Ball) and our poor Chesterfield is now in the kitchen. We inherited a 4 seater buttoned back early 1970s sofa and it is in the living room at the moment together with 2 armchairs and a rocking chair. I’m not re upholstering the Chesterfield until I decide what room it is going to live in – living room or sitting room? While I like our new/old living room sofa, I’m not so keen on the armchairs but don’t think it is a big enough room to carry 2 large sofas so will see!

We’re having a joint party for the children next week and I did try to persuade them to have their party in an outdoor play place this year but no, both of them were resolute in wanting it at home! So the plan is to get the living room painted as well and then do the accessorising after the party (and any touch up of painting that might be needed!)

They are on holidays now since Friday and we have a very ‘happy to be 9′ boy and a girl ‘who can’t wait to be 7′!

Making Rhubarb Pies

I am a complete clutter queen but I actually got rid of half of the worktop in my kitchen last year as I found I just kept cluttering it up, no matter how much I tried not to. By limiting the length of my worktop, I find I have to keep it reasonably clear so I have enough room to dish up dinner etc!  But that means creating more storage. You just can’t have too much storage in your kitchen and if it can be pretty, all the better! Kitchens can look somewhat soulless if all of your crockery and foodstuffs are hidden away behind kitchen cupboard doors and the worktops are bare, now you won’t want to be displaying your tinned peas but what about displaying some pretty items? On the other hand, glass fronted doors displaying ordinary jars, cups and mugs or too much clutter on the worktop won’t be pleasing to the eye either so how do you create a happy medium? So here is a few tips for creating a kitchen with some personality as well as having pretty items on display and the necessaries neatly tucked away and hidden.

Kitchen Storage Tins

Pretty tins such as Greengate’s tin box containers are ideal for storing items such as tea, coffee and sugar or as they are made of tin and are sealable, they are perfect as little biscuit tins or cake tins.

Greengate Pretty Storage Tins at Garrendenny Lane

Shelves

Open shelves are lovely in a kitchen and are perfect for displaying items such as antique bottles or any kitchen curiousities you have picked up on ebay, garage sales or antique shops. Inject some personality into your kitchen with a display of your favourite items, just don’t over do it. One set of shelves with your collection is plenty for most kitchens. Pretty tins make great storage canisters and jugs make great vases for spring flowers.

And I spotted these shelves over at Living Etc, it is simply created from a CD storage unit from Heal’s, together with an elaborate painted frame.  Isn’t it perfect for your favourite mugs and pretty bowls?

Use an open dresser or shelving unit for your kitchen storage – you can keep it tidy by using wicker baskets, metal boxes, tin boxes and similar items to hold everything. Leave the occasional space bare with one single pretty item such as a jug or a vase and this prevents it all taking up too much visual space in the kitchen. By creating space around a couple of single items so the eye can be drawn to the back of the shelf, it really creates an illusion of much more space.

Hang it on the Wall or from the Ceiling

Rather than having a magazine rack that takes up floor space or having them piled onto a shelf or scattered, the Black and Blum Ring Ring wall mounted magazine racks fit snugly against the wall and your favourite magazines will be on display and to hand when you want to relax with a cup of tea.

Ring Ring at Garrendenny Lane

I also love seeing copper saucepans hanging from a rack, even a simple metal pole and some hooks is all you need. Spotted this over at Living Etc too.

Multi purpose

Use a peg or notice board to hold all those important notices. The Black and Blum Time Square clock is great as it doubles as a clock, a Magnet board and a blackboard. It even has a little ledge along its upper edge to keep the enclosed chalk handy to hand.

Let your personality shine by choosing your favourite items to be on display while hiding those not so pretty essentials. You spend a lot of time in your kitchen so make it as pleasant a place to be as you can.

Today’s guest post is from Colin of Kitchen Index.  Kitchen Index offer an online kitchen and bedroom guide so if you are looking for anything at all for a kitchen or bedroom, do check out their supplier directory as well as their blog and news for all the latest in gadgets and gizmos as well as the more traditional options.

When Lorna kindly asked me to do a guest blog, I knew I wanted to talk about a particular style of kitchen.  My first thought was to write it on contemporary kitchens, but then after thinking for a bit, I decided I wanted to talk about a style that might not be as obvious. 

So I am going to talk about Classic Style Kitchens. 

Firstly, what is a Classic Style Kitchen? 

 I think the best way to describe this style is as a warm, inviting and slightly country style kitchen.  Not to be confused with a traditional style where ornate and fussy features are in abundance, classic kitchens are much simpler in design.

Classic Iona Painted by Kitchen Stori

In recent years, modern and contemporary kitchens were very popular among homeowners, and still are by large.  But there is also a big desire for something more inviting to welcome you home at the end of a long day. 

Features of a Classic Kitchen

In terms of colour and materials, classic kitchens come in a variety to match taste and budget.  The most popular however are painted finishes, solid timber like oak or walnut, or a mix of both painted and timber.  In the example above, you can see that a mixture of pale blue and cream was used.  Thankfully in the last year or so, more and more colours are being used and homeowners and designers are becoming more adventurous.  A key feature of late is definitely mixing paint colours and matching creams with bolder colours in order to make a statement.  And this is music to my ears.  I love seeing a mix of colours in kitchen design.  Designers are always looking for that

WOW factor for their clients and it’s amazing how adding in something simple like a bold burgundy or an olive green can lift the whole design and make it stand out from the norm.

Iona Light Oak with a claret Island

If you decide that a classic style kitchen is for you, then here are some tips:

• Make use of curves.  Curved cabinets soften the look of the kitchen and add a key feature to the design. 
• Add in some glass display units with lighting inside so you can showcase your finest glassware or pottery. 
• Why not mix and match your worktops.  Most people choose granite, quartz or laminate for their worktops, but why not add in a bit of timber, even in a small area.  Painted island units with a timber worktop have a lovely warm feel to them. 
• Feature cabinets like a wine rack or open book case lend themselves perfectly to the classic country style kitchen.  And of course it’s always good to have a bottle of wine close by.

So there you have it, my tuppence worth on classic kitchen design.  I love the fact that kitchen design is becoming much more daring, especially in modern and contemporary styles, but there is also something lovely about a cosy and elegant classic kitchen.  What do you all think?  What’s your favourite style and why?

Regular readers may remember our plans to install an Aga in our kitchen last year which were foiled by the decision to spend lots of money on a new website instead, oh, and a bit of machinery which is apparently essential to the farm!

But since then, although I yearn for an Aga, the idea of sitting in a comfy chair beside it with a cat on my lap while the brown bread cooks in the oven (okay, forget the cat, I’m allergic) but you get the picture.  I yearn for an Aga like Mise’s lovely cheery yellow one (which was recently featured in House and Home) or Lily’s oh so comforting cream one.

Rather than purchasing a special edition like the Emma Bridgewater Polka Dot, I had decided on getting a reconditioned one.

The Aga would serve as a constant source of heat in our kitchen which can be chilly enough, it would be our cooker and it could heat the radiators and the water, but it would be oil-fired. Having an electric Aga just wouldn’t be the same and yet we are trying to reduce our use of oil and are looking into getting windmills on the farm, to provide us with our own electricity and to feed some to the national grid too. Now, that is still probably a year or two away but it will happen sooner rather than later.

Then, I started thinking about stoves.  I love real fires, I light the fire in our living room every day from Oct through to April/May and actually only put on the central heating when it is really cold. The back boiler to the fire used to heat the bathroom upstairs and heat the water but unfortunately died a year ago. Now, if I had a stove in the kitchen, it would really create a cosy space there rather than it being a bit of a cold barn. The slight difficulty is that as I want to remove one window and place french doors there instead, the only place for the stove would be on an inner wall which would mean a longer flue which would go up edged to a corner in our bedroom and up again. It could heat the radiators and the water – all from our very plentiful supply of wood as we have numerous trees on the farm. We also discovered turf last year under the ground in one part of a field we purchased a couple of years ago.  I visited the fabulous Ovne Stoves website and fell in love with many of the antique stoves there.

I can remember seeing a cooker something like this in a 1930s house we viewed in Salisbury once and I almost wanted to buy the house just for the cooker!  I could even cook my brown bread in this

Or

Or this fabulously sleek Crown stove from the 1880s

Unfortunately though, these stoves are not equipped to heat radiators or water, they will only heat the room so I’m on the hunt again!

I have the whole summer to decide but, dear blogger readers, what do you think?

Bearing in mind my love for the crackle of open flames – which should we get? Aga or Stove?